Use of transposon mutants to assess the role of exoenzyme S in chronic pulmonary disease due toPseudomonas aeruginosa

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Abstract
Among the potential virulence factors produced byPseudomonas aeruginosa there are two distinct ADP-ribosyl transferases, exotoxin A and exoenzyme S. The role of exoenzyme S inPseudomonas aeruginosa infection was studied using the rat chronic pulmonary infection model.Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain DG1 and an isogenic mutant of DG1 differing only in its capacity to produce exoenzyme S were employed in the study. BothPseudomonas aeruginosa strains tested established a chronic pulmonary infection in this model and organisms recovered from lung homogenates were phenotypically unaltered with respect to exoenzyme S production in vitro. The extent of the observed pathology was markedly greater with the strain producing exoenzyme S, indicating that exoenzyme S may play a role in the progressive pathology observed in chronic lung disease due toPseudomonas aeruginosa.